Data from: Identity recognition in response to different levels of genetic relatedness in commercial soybean

Identity recognition systems allow plants to tailor competitive phenotypes in response to the genetic relatedness of neighbours. There is limited evidence for the existence of recognition systems in crop species and whether they operate at a level that would allow for identification of different degrees of relatedness. Here we test the responses of commercial soybean cultivars to neighbours of varying genetic relatedness consisting of other commercial cultivars (intra-specific), its wild progenitor Glycine soja, and another leguminous species Phaseolus vulgaris (inter-specific). We found, for the first time to our knowledge, that a commercial soybean cultivar, OAC Wallace, showed identity recognition responses to neighbours at different levels of genetic relatedness. OAC Wallace showed no response when grown with other commercial soybean cultivars (intra-specific neighbours), showed increased allocation to leaves compared to stems with wild soybeans (highly related wild progenitor species), and increased allocation to leaves compared to stems and roots with white beans (inter-specific neighbours). Wild soybean also responded to identity recognition but these responses involved changes in biomass allocation towards stems instead of leaves suggesting that identity recognition responses are species-specific and consistent with the ecology of the species. In conclusion, elucidating identity recognition in crops may provide further knowledge into mechanisms of crop competition and the relationship between crop density and yield.

亲缘识别系统可使植物依据邻株的遗传亲缘关系，调控其竞争表型。目前关于作物是否存在此类识别系统，且其能否区分不同亲缘程度的相关证据仍较为匮乏。本研究以商用大豆栽培品种为对象，测试其对不同遗传亲缘程度邻株的响应，所选用的邻株包括其他商用大豆栽培品种（种内intra-specific）、大豆的野生近缘祖先种野大豆（Glycine soja），以及另一种豆科植物普通菜豆（Phaseolus vulgaris，种间inter-specific）。据我们所知，本研究首次发现，商用大豆栽培品种'OAC Wallace'可对不同遗传亲缘层级的邻株产生亲缘识别响应：'OAC Wallace'与其他商用大豆栽培品种（种内邻株）共培时无显著响应；与野大豆（高度亲缘的野生祖先种）共培时，相较于茎部，其叶片的生物量分配（biomass allocation）显著增加；与普通菜豆（种间邻株）共培时，相较于茎部与根部，其叶片的生物量分配进一步提升。野大豆同样会产生亲缘识别响应，但其响应表现为将生物量分配向茎部倾斜而非叶片，这表明亲缘识别响应具有物种特异性，且与该物种的生态特征相符。综上，解析作物中的亲缘识别机制，可进一步深化我们对作物竞争机制以及作物密度与产量间关系的认知。